Few bands have inspired me more than Switchfoot. Although I grew up listening to the alternative band's albums The Beautiful Letdown and Oh! Gravity, I only became a fan once I reencountered their music during the pandemic. Fear felt more prevalent than ever in 2020, but music felt like a place of solace and an escape from the invisible war outside my window. While my memory of 2020 is tinged with some of that fear, it's primarily consumed with the joy of discovering Switchfoot as if for the first time.
After watching so many of their concerts online, I wanted to see the band perform in concert. As the months of the pandemic went by, their songs comforted me through the highs and lows of 2020 to '21. Their song "Joy Invincible" gave me an unspeakable sense of hope. "I Won't Let You Go" felt like peace on the nights anxiety kept me awake. I found a new appreciation for music and art through these songs and felt a deeper connection to Jesus. A new inspiration for poetry. The desire to dream again. So, yes. I wanted to see this band perform in concert more than anything.
The opportunity finally came on a breezy San Diego September night in 2021. The world was still a little weird--most wore masks, and the concert was outdoors. But that didn't matter one bit to me. I had traveled 300-plus miles from my hometown of Las Vegas for this moment, and not even a global pandemic could take away the moment's joy. Hearing those songs performed live for the first time--the ones that had comforted me during all the nights of anxiety and the chaos of the pandemic--was a surreal, magical experience. I was also pleased to see Boaz Roberts, Switchfoot's new guitarist, perform on his first tour with the band.
Since my first Switchfoot concert in 2021, I've lost count of how many times I've seen them live. I've traveled to Las Vegas and Southern California for their concerts. Over the past two and a half years, I've witnessed Boaz grow more and more as a musician. It's been a pleasure to watch his journey with Switchfoot and to see how he's become an integral part of the band.
Since joining the band on their first tour in 2021, Boaz has produced two Switchfoot albums and has undoubtedly mastered the guitar riffs on "Meant to Live." His talent has lent itself to Switchfoot's new version of The Beautiful Letdown and a songbook for This Is Our Christmas. His musical prowess is inspiring, and it was a joy to sit down with him to discuss his journey as an artist. We talked about his creative process, producing for the alternative band Asking for a Friend and, of course (the inevitable), working with Switchfoot.
First, tell me a little about yourself! What inspired you to become a musician?
I studied violin at a young age. I liked music, and my parents always played it--classical, jazz, and bluegrass--around the house. I was homeschooled, and the San Diego homeschool community was big into orchestra music. Later, I started playing the guitar because I thought it was cool. I was interested in the guitar because I have two older sisters who also play the violin. I was usually the third choice for playing an instrument, as my older sisters were always preferred unless someone needed three violins. I was getting fed up of being the third choice. I played violin until I was around 15 or 16 and still play it now. But I thought electric guitars were cool.
I began taking music seriously towards the end of high school. It then became clear that I needed to decide what to study and where to attend college. I was not exceptionally equipped for academics, so I knew it would be for music if I went to university. So that's what I did.
I attended junior college, where excellent teachers helped me test out of most core courses when transferring to the University of California San Diego. I wanted to attend UC San Diego because, if you passed specific courses, you could apply to work independently with particular faculty members. I did that and majored in jazz music.
Not only are you a musician, but you've also been producing for an alternative band, Asking for a Friend. Could you tell me about that experience?
If you love music, you're creative, and enjoy a lot of different styles of music--which I do--you might naturally find yourself working with musicians in multiple ways. The guitar is my main instrument, but many other instruments interest me: synthesizers, keyboards, pianos, violins, and stringed instruments. If you listen to a wide variety of music, you will start thinking about music broadly, beyond one instrument. Thus, if you have friends who make songs, producing music is something you'll find yourself doing.
Asking for a Friend was created by my dear friend, Chris Blair. I started working with him in 2018 and helped put together his live show for his tour. We became close friends, and he told me about his project, Asking for a Friend, which he worked on with his friend, Kyle ("Dysn") De Loera. I loved the songs and thought it would be great to lend my talents. They were kind enough to let me take the reins on it.
Here's how the project works: I receive a voice memo of Chris and Kyle's vocals, with one playing an acoustic guitar. From there, it's a blank page. I love working with them, and it's a great project. There's a lot of new music coming out soon.
Of course, we have to talk about Switchfoot. In 2021, when guitarist Drew Shirley announced he wouldn't be joining the band for the Into The Mystery Tour, you stepped up and were introduced as the guitarist for the tour. Later, Drew stepped down from the band, and you've been Switchfoot's guitarist ever since. How did you feel about joining them, and what was that first tour like?
I've known fellow Switchfoot members Jon Foreman and Chad Butler the longest, so I feel like I'm touring with older brothers or uncles. I met Chad when I was around 12 and Jon when I was 14 (I lived down the street from Jon and his brother, Tim. We'd always surf together.
I started touring with Switchfoot in 2021, and by June, five tours I was supposed to go on had been canceled. It was a discouraging year, and I felt depleted of energy. But pushing into July, Jon sent me a random text message. I didn't think anything of it but received an even more cryptic text message a few weeks later. That was when I realized I should keep my calendar clear and start practicing some Switchfoot songs.
It was a whirlwind. I had three weeks to learn everything. It was hectic, and that first tour was a lot to take in. I had many different feelings. It was enjoyable but strange without Drew. We also had to take COVID tests frequently and interacted less with others. Switchfoot's band members are very generous people, and I felt welcomed. They're always open to hearing my ideas and opinions about music and art, and I feel lucky to be hanging out with them right now.
I've learned a lot working for Switchfoot, and there's still more to learn. Any pursuit in music and art is about staying curious, letting curiosity guide you, and balancing that with being as dangerous as possible. According to David Bowie, when exploring music or art, you should keep going until you reach a point where the water is past your mouth and entering your nose. I think about that all the time. Because the minute you start to get static or feel too safe and secure with any pursuit, that's a scary moment. You must push your boundaries even if it makes you uncomfortable.
Let's talk about some of your recent projects for Switchfoot. You produced their album This Is Our Christmas and transcribed an entire songbook. You also worked on a new version of Switchfoot's landmark album, The Beautiful Letdown. Could you tell me about those experiences?
The songbook for This Is Our Christmas was a tedious process. I spent a week or two wondering if I wanted to present my idea of the songbook to the guys. Transcribing music is a challenging process--it's like copywriting, which can be a tedious behemoth. That book was great to do, but I would like to know if I would do it again.
When comparing the production of This Is Our Christmas and The Beautiful Letdown (Our Version), I like to contrast the experiences of these two records. On the Christmas album, my involvement felt more typical. There were some challenges, but the Christmas record was more explicitly standard production-wise. I added some jazzy chromatic chords to the songs and determined where the instruments should go and how they should sound. But, in contrast to that, producing The Beautiful Letdown was about recreating slight feelings and moments from the original record. It was more tedious because we wanted to stick close to the original.
I remember one week, we were trying to recreate the triangle sound at the beginning of Switchfoot's hit "Dare You To Move." There were several days when Tim, Jon, our engineer Tanner Sparks, and I would try to recreate the triangle noise and see who could get it the closest to the original. On other days, we would try recreating the "blips" and "bloops" on songs like "Gone." We spent hours trying to play all the tiny sounds. The Beautiful Letdown (Our Version) was more production-heavy in that sense.
I wasn't there when the original version of The Beautiful Letdown was recorded, so Jon and Tim had much faster ways to achieve the original sound on guitars and amps. So, on the album, I was more involved with the synthesizers, strings, and the artifacts found in the songs--all the odds and ends. Growing up listening to The Beautiful Letdown, I found it easy to contribute to producing the new version. It was helpful that I was not present when the original recording was made because I provided a fresh perspective on the project.
Each musical project that I work on is unique. I only know what the playbook will sound like once I'm half or three-quarters of the way through the project. It's the same with Asking for a Friend or my jazz music. I will know what producing means once I'm close to the finish line.
How can our staff and readers be praying for you?
My wife and I are expecting our second baby in March. I'd appreciate prayers for a safe third trimester for her--that would mean a lot to us.
Grace Chaves is NRT's News Editor and one of our youngest writers. She's been part of NewReleaseToday since 2019 and is continuing her journey by majoring in Writing at Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego.
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